Theresa May’s election campaign has received a £50,000 donation from a Syrian-born businessman who was recently interviewed by the Serious Fraud Office, according to official data.
Ayman Asfari, the chief executive of the oil services group Petrofac, gave the money to the Tories just days before the Guardian disclosed that he was recently interviewed under caution by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) over suspected bribery, corruption and money laundering by the company.
Asfari’s donation has been matched by his wife, Sawsan. He is also one of the prime minister’s business ambassadors, and is a member of the Leader’s Group, the elite group of donors who give over £50,000 a year, and are invited to dinners with the prime minister and senior government ministers. The Asfaris have now given £819,350 to the party.
The investigation is part of the SFO’s inquiry into Unaoil, a Monaco-based firm that has been accused of corruptly securing contracts for multinationals. Unaoil has denied any wrongdoing. A spokesman for Petrofac said the company was cooperating with the authorities. It has also said that an investigation by its lawyers and auditors found no evidence that any director “was aware of the alleged misconduct”.
Electoral Commission records show that the Conservatives raised more than £4.1m in the first week of the general election campaign, with Labour raising just over £2.7m. The Liberal Democrats raised only £180,000 in the same time period, which is likely to raise further questions about their appeal under Tim Farron.
The commission’s figures show that Theresa May’s party has launched a major fundraising drive among its wealthiest donors, with the aim of raising £19m for the general election.
The biggest donor to the Conservatives was John Griffin, the founder of the taxi company Addison Lee, who gave £900,000. Griffin stepped down as Addison Lee chairman in 2014.
Hedge fund executives who supported the remain campaign are also giving money to the party again. They include John Armitage, the founder of the hedge fund Egerton Capital, who has given £400,000 and Andrew Law, chairman and chief executive of the $8bn Caxton Associates, who has given £250,000.
The trade union Unite gave Labour three separate donations in the week 3-9 May, adding up to £2.36m in total. The figure represents 88% of the donations declared by the party in the time period.
The first release of donations by the Electoral Commission for this campaign shows more than £7m has already been donated to all political parties.
The Conservatives’ fundraising drive followed concerns that the party’s income had dipped since the EU referendum because pro-remain donors and friends of David Cameron were keeping their chequebooks shut.
Labour is expecting to spend less than half as much as the Tories on the general election campaign amid a drive for money donations from its 500,000 members.
Insiders said Labour had already raised around £3.8m for a possible poll when May announced the snap election. The party added that it had received £1m in small donations.
The Conservatives consistently spend close to the £19m general election spending limit.
Political parties are able to spend £30,000 for every seat they contest during the regulated period. Labour is expected to contest almost all 650 seats.
Labour under Ed Miliband spent £12.2m on the short campaign in 2015, compared with £8m under Brown in 2010. In 2005, Blair’s last general election campaign, it spent £17.9m.
